Places, People, and Properties in the Inquisitions Post Mortem

About the project

Mapping the Medieval Countryside is a major research project dedicated to creating a digital edition of the medieval English inquisitions post mortem (IPMs) from c. 1236 to 1509.

IPMs recorded the lands held at their deaths by tenants of the crown. They comprise the most extensive and important body of source material for landholding in medieval England. Describing the lands held by thousands of families, from nobles to peasants, they are a key source for the history of almost every settlement in England and many in Wales.

This digital edition is the most authoritative available. It is based on printed calendars of the IPMs but incorporates numerous corrections and additions: in particular, the names of some 48,000 jurors are newly included.

The site is currently in beta phase: it includes IPMs from 1418-1447 only, and aspects of the markup and indexing are still incomplete. An update later this year will make further material available.